KrangPrime
Master Member
My kit from Ebay came in....This guy is HUGE! Much bigger than I thought the prop looked on TV!
Any tips and tricks from Servo builders? Maybe I'll put a LED in his head and make him a lamp ;o)
Tom Servo!
- Thread starter KrangPrime
- Start date
My kit from Ebay came in....This guy is HUGE! Much bigger than I thought the prop looked on TV!
Any tips and tricks from Servo builders? Maybe I'll put a LED in his head and make him a lamp ;o)
KrangPrime
Master Member
We start building this on monday, when my rusty metal red, or whatever it is called, arrives...and I pick up some more primer.
First stop, is to drill all the holes needed and do a rough assemble....then we'll dis-assemble and prime, then paint.
After that all comes together, we'll see how well it all goes back together..about the only good thing about working in an electrical contracting office is that you already have all the tools needed to put these things together...
First stop, is to drill all the holes needed and do a rough assemble....then we'll dis-assemble and prime, then paint.
After that all comes together, we'll see how well it all goes back together..about the only good thing about working in an electrical contracting office is that you already have all the tools needed to put these things together...
KrangPrime
Master Member
Well, not as much progress as I would have liked today 
I ran into the first problem, I can't get his dome off without a hair drier to loosen the plastic up around the edges.... the second problem, is that the krylon prime doesn't really stick to the molded parts, even after a good sanding.....Where can I get tom servo approved paint and colors?
I ran into the first problem, I can't get his dome off without a hair drier to loosen the plastic up around the edges.... the second problem, is that the krylon prime doesn't really stick to the molded parts, even after a good sanding.....Where can I get tom servo approved paint and colors?
Maelstrom
Sr Member
And if I recall correctly they are fairly priced at $149 or so. Keep meaning to pick one up one day.
MrSinistar
Well-Known Member
Here's my bots:
I got the same kits from MST3KGuy (Bob)...he's really awesome. I wanted to build my own Crow instead of buying one and Bob was very helpful with supplying separate parts.
The head is one of the more difficult parts of building Tom. To get that dome off, you need a hacksaw or a dremel. I'm working on a tutorial on how to make Tom Servo and here's the first part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDUk-Px-C98
Are you planning on rigging the head so he can talk?
After you primer the head, go with a cheap red for the base coat. I used Rustolem (I think the color was called Colonial Red or something...I'll let you know later), but the really important accurate paint is Testor's Ruby Red Metallic. They come in 5 oz cans and are a pain in the butt to work with. When you paint the Testor's Ruby Red, go with VERY light coats...you put it on too thick, you can very easily mess up the paintjob. After a good day or two of drying, clear coat the parts.
EDIT: Also, I recommend you use hot glue or maybe an two-part epoxy for attaching the bottom lid to the head and for attaching the top lid to the dome. Superglue doesn't really hold well and it will fog up the dome.
I got the same kits from MST3KGuy (Bob)...he's really awesome. I wanted to build my own Crow instead of buying one and Bob was very helpful with supplying separate parts.
The head is one of the more difficult parts of building Tom. To get that dome off, you need a hacksaw or a dremel. I'm working on a tutorial on how to make Tom Servo and here's the first part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDUk-Px-C98
Are you planning on rigging the head so he can talk?
After you primer the head, go with a cheap red for the base coat. I used Rustolem (I think the color was called Colonial Red or something...I'll let you know later), but the really important accurate paint is Testor's Ruby Red Metallic. They come in 5 oz cans and are a pain in the butt to work with. When you paint the Testor's Ruby Red, go with VERY light coats...you put it on too thick, you can very easily mess up the paintjob. After a good day or two of drying, clear coat the parts.
EDIT: Also, I recommend you use hot glue or maybe an two-part epoxy for attaching the bottom lid to the head and for attaching the top lid to the dome. Superglue doesn't really hold well and it will fog up the dome.
Last edited:
KrangPrime
Master Member
I had Krylon, and for whatever reason, that didn't stick .
I got a different primer, and this one actually does stick, so all the parts that need to be done are primed. If I can figure out the instructions, we'll try and get some drilling done today..
.I got a different primer, and this one actually does stick, so all the parts that need to be done are primed. If I can figure out the instructions, we'll try and get some drilling done today
..
MrSinistar
Well-Known Member
I had Krylon, and for whatever reason, that didn't stick
I got a different primer, and this one actually does stick, so all the parts that need to be done are primed. If I can figure out the instructions, we'll try and get some drilling done today
Good luck!
For the barrel, drill the top for the PVC pipe to slide through. One of the more difficult parts of the Servo build is attaching the bowl to the barrel...I held the bowl and barrel upside down and drilled into the flange or lip on the bottom of the barrel casting for bolts. Then I drilled a hole into the bowl for the PVC pipe and fed bolts into the holes to hold the barrel flange to the bowl. I also used nuts and bolts to hold the Turbo trains onto the bowl. The arms are weird because of the way the bolts are placed on the arm piece. Basically, drill holes through the vacuum formed shoulder housing and mark where the bolts touch the barrel. Drill, rinse, repeat, haha.
KrangPrime
Master Member
hey all, thanks for the tips ..
Does the 'pipe neck' for tom servo have to go in straight? Mine only really sits at an angle and I'm afraid to glue it in like that.
Some small progress yesterday. Parts got as lightly primed as I can do. Hopefully I'll stop procrastinating and get some holes drilled today. I really want to do this one right.
And yes, to the question asked before, we are going to wire his mouth up for talking...
..Does the 'pipe neck' for tom servo have to go in straight? Mine only really sits at an angle and I'm afraid to glue it in like that.
Some small progress yesterday. Parts got as lightly primed as I can do. Hopefully I'll stop procrastinating and get some holes drilled today. I really want to do this one right.
And yes, to the question asked before, we are going to wire his mouth up for talking
...KrangPrime
Master Member
we got a little further today. I got the hole drilled for the front of the barrel done....His engine block can be put on now.
For next week: We'll try and finish up the head and remove the fishbowl so the head can be painted. then we'll see about centering the swivel part of the top barel.
For next week: We'll try and finish up the head and remove the fishbowl so the head can be painted. then we'll see about centering the swivel part of the top barel.
MrSinistar
Well-Known Member
There's a little dip in the resin on the top of the barrel. This is dead center of the barrel and where you wanna start drilling. I grabbed a circle template, drew a 1/2" circle around the center dip and began drilling. The hole doesn't have to be perfectly round, but it's important that the pipe shouldn't be fitted loosely through the hole. Drill the hole so that it's big enough for the pipe to pass through and small enough so that it binds...if the hole's too big, his head will be tilting everywhere.
I'm curious about your engine cast, do the engine stacks have holes all the way down or are they just little divots? It's nothing important, just wanna know.
To rig his head, I recommend that after you tie a knot to the fishing line that connects to Tom's lower jaw, go ahead and hot glue that thing. Hot glue holds a lot better than
superglue...I found out the hard way when I was showing him off at a convention, lol.
I'm curious about your engine cast, do the engine stacks have holes all the way down or are they just little divots? It's nothing important, just wanna know.
To rig his head, I recommend that after you tie a knot to the fishing line that connects to Tom's lower jaw, go ahead and hot glue that thing. Hot glue holds a lot better than
superglue...I found out the hard way when I was showing him off at a convention, lol.
KrangPrime
Master Member
stupid question time.. you don't have to cut that superlong pipe any, do you? I assume it gets attached to the neck, and then that runs all the way to the bottom and that's how Servo's head is controlled?
Today's agenda, get the hands attached and screwed on to the barrel. Tomorrow we'll worry about the metal swivel piece, and pipe hole. Taking this one step at a time.
Today's agenda, get the hands attached and screwed on to the barrel. Tomorrow we'll worry about the metal swivel piece, and pipe hole. Taking this one step at a time
.KrangPrime
Master Member
Mr.Sinister... Just little divots
. are they supposed to go all the way down? We made a bit more progress today. As recomended, I hot glued the hands to the white shoulder plates. The holes are drilled and he's temporarily fitted. Same goes for the engine block. I'm not sure how I'm going to paint the engine stack part white just yet. I also got his metal head swivel-er in place..hopefully centered..
Once everything looks good, I'll begin final assembly.
Tommorow, we will use the hole puncher to drill a hole through the bottom of the bowl and barrel and hopefully get the rest of the holes done.
KrangPrime
Master Member
Well, as you can see, we've h ad some set backs...
..somehow, I'm still not sure, we've gotten some red paint on the bowl. I'll now have to see if I can lightly chip it off, or get some whiteout or real white paint to cover it up.
Second issue, I thought maybe I could lightly spray tom's head without hitting the bowl, since I'm real nervous about trying to pry that thing off without breaking it, even using t he hair dryer method........ even covering it up, didn't work so well, so now we've got to chip that off
..other than those two minor problems....it's not coming along that bad...
The head swivel part is attached. His shoulder pipe thing is glued on to the huge pipe. his barel is now attached to the bowl. His arms can fit in to the barrel. I've just got to find a way to attach his hands without breaking the slinky, drill the hole for the pipe, attach the string to his mouth, secure the pipe, and get a finished paint job that looks good, and I should be done....
If I where to build a second tom servo, I'm sure it'd go easier... first one always has issues ;o)..
KrangPrime
Master Member
Going to TRY and finish up Mr.Servo tomorrow.... Been procrastinating long enough .....how's it coming along so far?
.....how's it coming along so far?KrangPrime
Master Member
well, we got nothing done today..
But I did bring tom's head home, so going to try the blow drier trick now and see if it works.
I'm also a little confused on how the string attaches to the jaw. The Jaw Pulls up to open, but if you use the string, it'd have to pull down to work..does that make sense? Curious if anyone has any pictures of there's for better under standing
But I did bring tom's head home, so going to try the blow drier trick now and see if it works.
I'm also a little confused on how the string attaches to the jaw. The Jaw Pulls up to open, but if you use the string, it'd have to pull down to work..does that make sense? Curious if anyone has any pictures of there's for better under standing
KTLA PREDICTS: I think you should be seeing some progress.... in the not too distant future. Next Sunday, A.D. perhaps. :cool
KrangPrime
Master Member
Almost done with Mr.Servo.
I got the hole punched Through the center and the bowl. It fits in pretty snuggly. I'm re-painting the dome so it looks a little smoother. I'll get the paint for the engine stacks and his mouth to finish that up. I hope to get the bowl removed this afternoon so I can get his face painted up.
Tommorow, I'll get the string attached to the mouth, I'll hot glue in the 'Shoulder' to the head, and secure everything else off, and the only thing left to do, is somehow attach those train things around his bowl. Not quite sure on how to do those yet, if you have to cut away the excess plastic, there will be nothing left to glue on to the bowl...
I got the hole punched Through the center and the bowl. It fits in pretty snuggly. I'm re-painting the dome so it looks a little smoother. I'll get the paint for the engine stacks and his mouth to finish that up. I hope to get the bowl removed this afternoon so I can get his face painted up.
Tommorow, I'll get the string attached to the mouth, I'll hot glue in the 'Shoulder' to the head, and secure everything else off, and the only thing left to do, is somehow attach those train things around his bowl. Not quite sure on how to do those yet, if you have to cut away the excess plastic, there will be nothing left to glue on to the bowl...
